VOA慢速英语2018-- 'I' or 'Me'?

 

Welcome to Ask a Teacher –? a new program where readers ask questions and teachers answer them.

Some of the first words English students learn are “I” and “me.” But even native¹ English speakers do not always know which one to use in a sentence. In today’s Ask a Teacher, Fernanda from Brazil gets right to the heart of the problem. Here is her question.

Question:

Sometimes I don’t know when to use “I” or “me.” For example, I want to tell someone that I made some food with a friend. How can I say it: “Monica and I made the food?” or “Monica and me made the food”? -Fernanda, Brazil

Answer:

Hello Fernanda!

I can tell by your first sentence that you know to use the word “I” when you? are the only subject of the sentence. You correctly wrote “I want…” for example. In this case, “I” is the subject and “want” is the verb².

But you are asking about a situation involving³ two people: you and your friend.

Let’s review what you already know to find the answer.

“I” is a subject pronoun⁴. It refers⁵ to the person performing the action of a verb. Use “I” for the subject of the sentence.

“Me” is an object⁶ pronoun. It refers to the person receiving the action of a verb. Use “me” for the object of the sentence.

In your sentence about cooking, are you and your friend the subject or the object of the verb “made”? In other words, are the ones making the food – or is the food making you?

You are making the food, of course. So, the answer to your question is: “Monica and I made the food.” In this sentence, the whole subject is “Monica and I.”

subject pronouns⁷

I, you, he, she, it, we, they

object pronouns

me, you, him, her, it, us, them

Let’s look at a few more sentences with “I” as part of the subject:

In September, Monica and I are starting classes.

When can Monica and I visit the new museum?

And sentences with “me” as part of the object:

What did you bring back for Monica and me?

David is giving Monica and me a ride to the airport.

How to decide

If you’re still not sure whether to choose “me” or “I,” try keeping just the pronoun. Listen:

What did you bring back for Monica and I?

You would not ask, “What did you bring back for I?” The correct way to form the question is: “What did you bring back for me?” Then you can just add the other person back to the sentence: “What did you bring back for Monica and me?”

And that’s Ask a Teacher.

I’m Alice Bryant.

1 native   

adj.本国的，本地的；n.本地人，本国人

参考例句：

• No government shall take away the rights of the native people.任何政府也不能剥夺土著人的权利。
• This is my native land and I'll defend it with my life!这是我的祖国，我将用生命保卫她！

2 verb   

n.[语]动词

参考例句：

• The sentence is formed from a verb and two nouns.这句子由一个动词和两个名词构成。
• These are the finite forms of a verb.这些是一个动词的限定形式。

3 involving   

表明（某人参与了罪行等）( involve的现在分词 )； 使参与； 牵涉； 使专心于

参考例句：

• A girl was killed yesterday in a crash involving a stolen car. 昨天有一女孩在一桩涉及窃车的撞车事故中丧生。
• He tried to be not involving himself in this endless argument. 他尽力使自己不介入这场没完没了的争论。

4 pronoun   

n.代词

参考例句：

• The relative pronoun is often dropped if it is the subject.关系代名词做受词时常被省略。
• Here you should use plural pronoun.这里你应该用复数代词。

5 refers   

v.提到( refer的第三人称单数 )；针对；关系到；请教

参考例句：

• He never refers himself to us when he has difficulties. 他有困难时从不求助于我们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His statement refers to people in general, not to anyone in particular. 他的发言是泛指一般情况，不是针对某一个人的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 object   

n.物，物体，目标，宾语；v.反对

参考例句：

• Now he had no object in life.现在他没有生活的目标。
• I object strongly to the idea.我坚决反对这种主张。

7 pronouns   

n.代词( pronoun的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Relative pronouns and adverbs introduce attributive clauses. 关系代词和关系副词引导定语从句。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• "I", "you"and "he" are all personal pronouns. I，you和he都是人称代词。 来自《简明英汉词典》